Was your breast cancer misdiagnosed by a radiologist?

I was misdiagnosed in the ER, I was there because of increasing back pain that was progressing into neurological symptoms, like numbness and weakness. The pain seemed to be ever increasing, from neck all the way down to tailbone and branching out.

The doctor immediately didn't take it serious, she clearly had formed an opinion before she even gave it a proper consideration that it was just some simple injury, swelling causing pressure on a nerve. Only a few spinal x-rays were ordered and even those were done in a way like it was just to appease me. I really believe that far too often the radiologists reviewing tests, aren't really looking for any/all possible things wrong because they already have a formed opinion based on what they read in the chart, so confirmation bias has them looking to prove that opinion rather than looking for any possible cause or illness. The x-rays supposedly didn't show anything worth mentioning.

I partially blame the radiologist for not looking closer but mostly the attending physician because ultimately, it was her lack of care or interest that lead to my misdiagnosis. When I mentioned how it seemed weird to have so many areas hurting and affected at once, she said yes it was odd, usually it's just one of those things, not all of them at once. That should have been a huge red flag to look further and order more tests but she was overly confident that her first thought must be correct (also I didn't have insurance) and sent me home with muscle relaxers and a week of steroids (which caused many side effects, including tachycardia that didn't go away and I still take pills to control.) Of course the "treatment" didn't actually help because the diagnosis was incorrect. Over the next few weeks all of my symptoms got worse instead of better, this was the worst part to me of the misdiagnosis, I was lead to believe that it was just some simple injury that should be getting better. I was also told to keep moving and doing everything as normal, work through the pain and make sure to exercise. Only when I would try and do all those things, I was getting injured, having increasing pain and issues. Mentally, this put a huge strain on me because I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting better but instead was getting worse. It somehow placed fault on me the patient, like it's something I was doing wrong that was keeping me ill. A few weeks after the misdiagnosis I slipped trying to get in my bed and my back hit the bed as I fell down. I could feel something bad happen in that moment, I didn't know what but it filled me with immediate fear and pain. By morning it was clear that something bad happened in the fall and an ambulance was called.

Back at the ER and they again were not taking it seriously, despite me being in so much pain that I truly felt I couldn't endure life much longer. They did another set of spinal x-rays, no other tests ordered. This time the radiologist did a proper job and noted lucency in some areas, he recommended a CT Scan but the PA didn't care about the recommendation, he was of course sure that his first impression was correct. That it was just some swelling from the fall, I was clearly young, therefore must be healthy. A doctor came in and told me I would be going home soon, they were prescribing more muscle relaxers. This, after I told them my pain was now a level 12 on a 1-10 scale.

Right after the doctor left the room the nurses changed shifts and the new nurse seemed confused as to why I was being sent home when my pain and mobility was so bad that I couldn't even get out of the bed and to a bedside commode. A few minutes later, I could hear her giving the PA a firm talking to outside the door. She said to him that I couldn't be sent home because my heart rate was sky high and I had a fever... that I needed blood work at the least. She came right back in and took blood, next thing I knew I was being taken for a CT scan. The PA came in shortly after telling me my bones were covered in lytic lesions, that it appeared I was full of cancer. The fall had fractured my vertebra because it was so weak from the cancer lesions.

It's crazy that I was minutes away from being sent home misdiagnosed for a second time, had that shift change not happened and that nurse not been keen and bold enough to stand up to the PA. Who knows what would have happened, had I been sent home that day. It wasn't a long enough delay to change much with my cancer between the first misdiagnosis but I didn't need to suffer like I did that month between and I didn't need to end up fracturing my spine. That was all because of that first ER doctor who brushed off my odd symptoms simply because I was young and assumed healthy because of that fact alone. I also find it hard to believe that nothing showed as odd on my first x-rays, especially since the second set had the radiologist recommending CT scans because of seeing the lytic lesions as lucent areas. It all leads me to being very distrustful of everyone in the medical field, I can't trust their knowledge anymore after going through all that. How can you know when you have a good or bad one treating you at the time? It's always in the back of my mind now and I distrust all they have to say.

I was misdiagnosed in the ER, I was there because of increasing back pain that was progressing into neurological symptoms, like numbness and weakness. The pain seemed to be ever increasing, from neck all the way down to tailbone and branching out.

The doctor immediately didn't take it serious, she clearly had formed an opinion before she even gave it a proper consideration that it was just some simple injury, swelling causing pressure on a nerve. Only a few spinal x-rays were ordered and even those were done in a way like it was just to appease me. I really believe that far too often the radiologists reviewing tests, aren't really looking for any/all possible things wrong because they already have a formed opinion based on what they read in the chart, so confirmation bias has them looking to prove that opinion rather than looking for any possible cause or illness. The x-rays supposedly didn't show anything worth mentioning.

I partially blame the radiologist for not looking closer but mostly the attending physician because ultimately, it was her lack of care or interest that lead to my misdiagnosis. When I mentioned how it seemed weird to have so many areas hurting and affected at once, she said yes it was odd, usually it's just one of those things, not all of them at once. That should have been a huge red flag to look further and order more tests but she was overly confident that her first thought must be correct (also I didn't have insurance) and sent me home with muscle relaxers and a week of steroids (which caused many side effects, including tachycardia that didn't go away and I still take pills to control.) Of course the "treatment" didn't actually help because the diagnosis was incorrect. Over the next few weeks all of my symptoms got worse instead of better, this was the worst part to me of the misdiagnosis, I was lead to believe that it was just some simple injury that should be getting better. I was also told to keep moving and doing everything as normal, work through the pain and make sure to exercise. Only when I would try and do all those things, I was getting injured, having increasing pain and issues. Mentally, this put a huge strain on me because I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting better but instead was getting worse. It somehow placed fault on me the patient, like it's something I was doing wrong that was keeping me ill. A few weeks after the misdiagnosis I slipped trying to get in my bed and my back hit the bed as I fell down. I could feel something bad happen in that moment, I didn't know what but it filled me with immediate fear and pain. By morning it was clear that something bad happened in the fall and an ambulance was called.

Back at the ER and they again were not taking it seriously, despite me being in so much pain that I truly felt I couldn't endure life much longer. They did another set of spinal x-rays, no other tests ordered. This time the radiologist did a proper job and noted lucency in some areas, he recommended a CT Scan but the PA didn't care about the recommendation, he was of course sure that his first impression was correct. That it was just some swelling from the fall, I was clearly young, therefore must be healthy. A doctor came in and told me I would be going home soon, they were prescribing more muscle relaxers. This, after I told them my pain was now a level 12 on a 1-10 scale.

Right after the doctor left the room the nurses changed shifts and the new nurse seemed confused as to why I was being sent home when my pain and mobility was so bad that I couldn't even get out of the bed and to a bedside commode. A few minutes later, I could hear her giving the PA a firm talking to outside the door. She said to him that I couldn't be sent home because my heart rate was sky high and I had a fever... that I needed blood work at the least. She came right back in and took blood, next thing I knew I was being taken for a CT scan. The PA came in shortly after telling me my bones were covered in lytic lesions, that it appeared I was full of cancer. The fall had fractured my vertebra because it was so weak from the cancer lesions.

It's crazy that I was minutes away from being sent home misdiagnosed for a second time, had that shift change not happened and that nurse not been keen and bold enough to stand up to the PA. Who knows what would have happened, had I been sent home that day. It wasn't a long enough delay to change much with my cancer between the first misdiagnosis but I didn't need to suffer like I did that month between and I didn't need to end up fracturing my spine. That was all because of that first ER doctor who brushed off my odd symptoms simply because I was young and assumed healthy because of that fact alone. I also find it hard to believe that nothing showed as odd on my first x-rays, especially since the second set had the radiologist recommending CT scans because of seeing the lytic lesions as lucent areas. It all leads me to being very distrustful of everyone in the medical field, I can't trust their knowledge anymore after going through all that. How can you know when you have a good or bad one treating you at the time? It's always in the back of my mind now and I distrust all they have to say.

@coco46 what you have been through is unforgivable, I have encountered this type of ER doctor with my husband and 3 days in a row he was sure he was correct. I had to elevate my objections a little and they admitted him and then was saved by another doctor.
I was just heartbroken as I read your story, when we are young, people make a lot of assumptions about health.
May I ask about your actual diagnosis, this sounds exactly like when my husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Lytic lesions throughout the spine and a broken vertebrae, I remember his pain.
Do you have breast cancer? Is there a treatment plan now or are you just getting started with oncology?

@auntieoakley The diagnosis was ultimately stage 4 ER+ breast cancer that had metastasized to my bones. Lesions from my skull all the way down throughout my whole skeleton but most heavily in the spine and pelvic bones. I had a lump in my breast but I always had lumps that came and went throughout my life, I didn't think much of it. I was 38 at the time of my diagnosis, not even the age where mammograms are routine.

I have been receiving treatment for 3-1/2 years now, I get injections to shut down my ovaries and I am on an AI along with CDK4/6 inhibitor. For my bones, I get zometa infusions, they were monthly for the first 3 years but now it's every other month.

I am very sorry that you and your husband have had to deal with this kind of negligence as well. It's bad enough when you are suffering with illness and pain but having medical professionals making the situation worse by not taking it serious or flat out not believing the patient is just unnecessary. Especially when pain is involved, they treat everyone like some kind of junky looking for a fix. Nevermind that I had already been suffering with very high levels of constant pain at home for many months prior to ever seeking any sort of treatment and my only other hospital visit in my life was to have an appendectomy when I was a child.

@smith777 I didn't sue the hospital, though I am sure I would have had a sufficient case. Sometimes when I rethink about it, I wish I had. Especially knowing they are likely just going on doing the same thing to other people. I did write a very lengthy letter to the hospital about it, when they sent me a survey about the treatment I received. I never heard a word from them about it, not even a letter of apology. Doctors like those who treated me so poorly, should be shamed and reprimanded when it comes to light how they treat innocent, suffering people.

@auntieoakley The diagnosis was ultimately stage 4 ER+ breast cancer that had metastasized to my bones. Lesions from my skull all the way down throughout my whole skeleton but most heavily in the spine and pelvic bones. I had a lump in my breast but I always had lumps that came and went throughout my life, I didn't think much of it. I was 38 at the time of my diagnosis, not even the age where mammograms are routine.

I have been receiving treatment for 3-1/2 years now, I get injections to shut down my ovaries and I am on an AI along with CDK4/6 inhibitor. For my bones, I get zometa infusions, they were monthly for the first 3 years but now it's every other month.

I am very sorry that you and your husband have had to deal with this kind of negligence as well. It's bad enough when you are suffering with illness and pain but having medical professionals making the situation worse by not taking it serious or flat out not believing the patient is just unnecessary. Especially when pain is involved, they treat everyone like some kind of junky looking for a fix. Nevermind that I had already been suffering with very high levels of constant pain at home for many months prior to ever seeking any sort of treatment and my only other hospital visit in my life was to have an appendectomy when I was a child.

@smith777 I didn't sue the hospital, though I am sure I would have had a sufficient case. Sometimes when I rethink about it, I wish I had. Especially knowing they are likely just going on doing the same thing to other people. I did write a very lengthy letter to the hospital about it, when they sent me a survey about the treatment I received. I never heard a word from them about it, not even a letter of apology. Doctors like those who treated me so poorly, should be shamed and reprimanded when it comes to light how they treat innocent, suffering people.